$10k USD cash is exactly what a startup I used to work for would pay employees for a successful referral (hired and work in the position for some set amount of

$10k USD cash is exactly what a startup I used to work for would pay employees for a successful referral (hired and work in the position for some set amount of time). That seems to be the going price for a successful SDE hire as of the time of writing this comment. Here it just looks like the employee wants to pay that instead of the employer. Note that I’m not commenting on the ethics or other wider aspects around why prospective employees might feel like they want to pay this, I’m only pointing out that the number is not unreasonable or abnormal